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Stress on helmet-wearing

ALL FOR SAFETY:Minister for Cooperation SellurK. Raju and Transport Department officials leading an awareness walk in the city on Saturday.— Photo: S. James

The need for motorcyclists to wear helmets to prevent fatal accidents was emphasised by the Minister for Cooperation, Sellur K. Raju, on Saturday.

Flagging off a Road Safety Week awareness rally, organised by the Transport Department in association with Voice Trust and Kalyani Honda here, the Minister advised the students to follow traffic rules and also spread this culture among elders.

Accidents caused by violation of road rules resulted in more deaths than acts of violence. However, Mr. Raju said, statistics showed that the number of road accidents had come down in the last two years in Tamil Nadu, especially Madurai district. Such awareness programmes were conducted to make Madurai an accident-free district.

The Collector, Anshul Mishra, assured that all steps would be taken to make the district accident-free. A cheque for Rs. 25 lakh was handed over to the Collector by L. Murali Krishnan of Kalyani Honda for creating a children’s traffic park in the city, according to an official press release.

Mr. Raju also presented awards for drivers of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation for their accident-free record and to doctors who did not waste time in attending to accident victims.

Murugesan of Voice Trust welcomed the gathering and Prathap Sethu proposed a vote of thanks.

Contest for students

Students studying ninth standard and Plus One bagged prizes in essay contest on road safety conducted in the city on Thursday as part of the Road Safety Weekcampaign, Transport Department officials and Madurai City Traffic police have been organising awareness programmes, and blood donation and eye screening camps. Five students of SBOA School, who participated in essay competitions, were selected for best presentation.

Besides, there was a quiz contest on road signs, signals and about the importance of wearing helmets at an interactive session. Ten students were given prizes on the spot for correct answers. Deputy Commissioner (Transport) Balan, RTO (South) K. Natarajan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Yellapparaj presented the prizes.